This week’s training is all about how to calm your Inner Critic. EVERYBODY has an Inner Critic that lives inside of them. It's built out of protection as we grow up. How? Things happen like somebody makes fun of us or somebody says we’re not good enough, so… that Inner Critic forms in order to keep us feeling safe and secure. The Inner Critic thinks, “Okay, I’m not going to get too close to people or try too hard because I’ll get hurt. So, instead, I’ll criticize myself to feel like I’m in control of my environment.” (Crazy, huh!?)

Some Inner Critics are stronger than others.

You can tell how strong your Inner Critic is by how much you're saying things that you “coulda” “shoulda” or “woulda” done things differently. It can sound like….I “COULDA” got that job if I applied for it….or I “SHOULDA” gone to the gym but instead I didn't and now I'm overweight….. or if I “WOULDA” studied harder I would have gotten a better grade.

You can see the Inner Critic loves to live in regret by saying, “You're never ever good enough”. It can feel overwhelming to live in this place. You feel like you're never going to be enough in life.

I know because I had a strong Inner Critic that lived inside of me! It beat me up so bad! I became critical not only of myself, but of those around me.

In my friendships, I would gossip like CRAZY (because Inner Critics LOVE to gossip!) and say things behind people's backs. I lost a lot of friends because of being so gossipy. I felt like I couldn’t stop gossiping though.

It felt good to focus my Inner Critic on others vs. on criticizing me. The criticism she would tell me day in and day out was so draining & depressing.

Even in my former marriage my Inner Critic was strong. I had a heartfelt conversation with my now ex as our relationship was dwindling that was heartbreaking. He said in this convo to me, “Lindsay, I never ever felt like I was enough for you or I was ever going to be enough for you.” That stabbed me in the heart because I didn't want my legacy to be that I was a critical person or unloving person. It was a wake-up call for me.

I wanted to change my life and I wanted to be a loving person, but I didn't know how. I had this Inner Critic that developed to keep me safe and secure by not getting too close to others (so she would gossip and criticize others to keep me “safe”).

My Inner Critic was robbing me of being present, being joyful and having love and connection in my life. That's what your Inner Critic is doing for you too!

Today, I want to teach you in 3 steps how to calm your Inner Critic so that you can get more of that life that feels good for you.